


Free

by serendipitykpop



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Abuse, Blood, F/F, F/M, M/M, Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-06-23 19:47:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15613716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serendipitykpop/pseuds/serendipitykpop
Summary: "What's it like being free?"





	1. Chapter 1

Faster. Faster. Faster.

Joshua had to run faster until he could no longer hear the sound of their voices.

“Quickly! He’s just up ahead! Don’t lose sight of him or else it’ll be our heads!”

His body trembled with fear as he looked over his shoulder. His mouth went dry and goosebumps formed on his skin. He quickly turned back around and aimed all of his energy in picking up his speed.

“It has to be around here somewhere.”

Joshua was nearly at his last breath. His legs were tired of running and his chest was tightening from how heavy he breathed. He couldn’t take anymore. However, if he gave up now, they would catch him easily. He looked over his shoulder to see them in the distance once more and he groaned. He picked up his pace and ran a little bit faster. He cut through alleyways and empty roads to prevent from being seen.

“Does it not even exist after all?”

His eyes darted back and forth in a hurry in search of the place. All of these mixed emotions were building up inside of him and he was about to lose it. That was until he stumbled into a nearly desolate area that showed no signs of life. He checked out his surroundings to see if this may be it.

“Please let me be right,” Joshua whispered into the night sky and squeezed his eyes shut. With that, he ran inside. Once he got in, he quickly shut the door behind him and had a look around. It was a small and empty home, contrary to what he believed. Then again, the people he was looking for may have needed things to be this way. “Hello?”

His whole being shook with fear and nervousness as he slowly made his way further into the almost darken house. He checked in each room that he passed to find no one. He heard no signs of anything or anyone.

“Is anyone here? I need some help-” Joshua stopped when he approached a door that showed a sign of life behind it. He leaned his ear close and listened in.

“That’s not sharp enough!”

A girl’s voice.

Joshua took a step back in surprise. He clasped his shaking hand over his mouth to prevent himself from making another sound, hoping they didn’t hear him. He came closer once more to see how many there were before he could go in.

“I’ve been sharpening this for almost an hour, you know?” A boy replied.

“If it’s too dull, then that will be extremely dangerous to everyone!” Another girl scolded.

“Isn’t that the point?”

“Shut it, Kai.”

“What? I’m just saying.”

“All right. Cool it, you two,” Another boy interfered.

“So there are four of them.” 

Joshua took a mental note and nodded. He pulled away from the door and straightened his posture. He took a deep breath to both calm himself as well as mentally and physically prepare for what he was going to do next.

“This is going to be the dumbest thing I have ever thought of, but I must do what needs to be done.”

While the arguing still commenced, he took this opportunity to make his appearance. He pulled open the door and snuck his head inside. He closed it behind him, then slowly made his way towards the lively bunch. As if they immediately sensed his presence, they quickly stood to their feet and got in defensive stances with their weapons pointed at him.

“Woah,” He gasped and raised his arms up. He nervously chuckled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you there.”

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” The girl with a chain and sickle hissed, ready to attack him.

“I-I am-”

Before he could state his business and name, a powerful voice interrupted them.

“Stand down.”

Joshua raised his gaze up to the person and his eyes widened. There, stood a person with a menacing glare, sending chills down his spine. Your eyes met his for a second and he could see the discontent already. He gulped and watched as you jumped down flawlessly from the balcony without a single ounce of pain shown on you. His whole being shook as you slowly walked up to him. You waved for the four of them to put down their weapons to which they did.

“Y/N-”

You raised an hand to shush any protests that came from Sen and the others. She huffed and did as she was told. You stood in between him and your teammates, holding out a protective arm in front of them. You pulled out one of your swords and pointed the tip at his neck, making him flinch at the cold feeling.

“You are going to tell me who you are, how you found this place and what you are doing here.”

Joshua hesitated for a second.

“Now,” You seethed and he nodded.

“My name is Joshua Hong and I was in search of your team because I needed help. My father was murdered by some people that I wish to learn more about. However, I am just a merchant’s son and I know nothing about fighting. I had found this place when I came here once and I heard some rumors about you while I was in town.”

“Rumors? There are rumors about us?” The girl with a gun, gasped and clutched onto you. You rested a hand on her head and she instantly relaxed.

“Uh oh, that’s not good. I thought we had this place marked off the map,” The boy with the gigantic sword, sighed and shook his head.

“Those people are so meddlesome,” Another boy with a scythe clicked his tongue, looking very annoyed.

“Y/N, what should we do?” Sen turned to you with panic in her eyes. You let out a sigh and put away your weapon, making them exchange looks.

“Forget about that right now,” You shushed them, then turned to the boy. His breath hitched in his throat when his eyes met your glaring ones. “You.”

“Yes?”

You looked him over once.

“So you want our help, do you?”

“I do. I will do anything, even get on my knees and beg for your assistance.”

“Woah. He’s even willing to go that far?” The little girl asked in disbelief.

“Hmph. I still don’t approve of this.” Sen frowned and crossed her arms.

“You’re not actually going to have us help him, are you?” One of the boys questioned, his eyebrows knitted together in irritation.

“We can’t trust him, Y/N,” The grumpier boy protested.

“Please,” Joshua begged, his voice barely a whisper as he looked at you with desperation. You clicked your tongue, feeling a headache develop from all of this.

“Let me give you a warning, Joshua.”

“Yes, all right.”

“Rumors are just made up stories formed from the mouths of some very meddlesome people. I would even expect that the rumors are entirely about how we simply just give out beatings to the bad people and they never anything bad again. Correct?”

“That’s correct.”

Your eyes darkened.

“And you are aware that is incorrect, don’t you?”

“I do.”

You slowly walked up to him and he took a step back with every step you took towards him. He gulped as you had him trapped between the table and yourself.

“So you know exactly what we are and what we do, do you?” You challenged.

“That’s right.”

“And even when you’re shaking like a leaf, you still have the courage to tell me you are ready for this kind of life?”

Despite him trembling under your stare, he nodded with such determination in his eyes.

“I am prepared to do whatever it takes to avenge my father.”

You scoffed, a smirk pulling at the ends of your lips. 

“You’re pretty interesting, Joshua,” You declared and walked back to where the four of them stood.

“I suppose so.”

You glanced over at your teammates to see how they would react. They looked back at you with uncertainty. Their words were caught in their throats at your words because it only meant one thing.

You turned around to face him once again and chuckled. He took a long look at each and every one of you in awe before his eyes landed on you last. With a smirk, you welcomed him to the team.

“Well, Joshua. Welcome to your worst nightmare.”


	2. Chapter 2

“I don’t think we can trust him.”

“Yeah, I mean he found us through rumors.”

“How he found this place is the bigger problem.”

“Right? It’s not even on the map.”

“You know I can hear you all, right?” Joshua asked from across the table. They looked at each other, then at him and back to each other. They moved their chairs closer and continued to whisper amongst themselves. He let out a tired sigh, still able to hear them quite well. “What am I even doing here? I am clearly unwelcomed.”

“That’s because you’ve only been here for a few hours.” You leaned against the counter behind him and he turned in his seat to face you. You found amusement in discovering the desperation in his eyes and you chuckled. “You have to give them to adjust to you. They’ve all gone through some things, so they don’t trust people easily.”

“That’s fair. I mean I wasn’t expecting for them to warm up to me immediately anyway.”

You raised an eyebrow at his sadden face.

“What? You wanted to get along with them that badly?”

“Well, you and your team are going to help me, so I wanted to at least try to have one conversation with all of you.”

You stared at him before a chuckle escaped from your lips. You shook your head at his resolve.

“Definitely an interesting boy you are.”

“E-Eh?” His eyes widened as he thought he saw you smile for a second. Though, such a thought passed instantly.

“Well, good luck with making friends. Goodbye.” With a wave of a hand, you walked up to your spot on the second floor. His mouth hung open as he watched you walk away.

“Why did I expect for a second that Y/N would even try to help me with this?” He shook his head and scolded himself.

From across the table, stared a boy who had watched your encounter with Joshua. He saw the way you had no fear when speaking to him. The way you treated him normally, without a single doubt in your eyes. Then again, you weren’t exactly known for being fearful, but rather feared by others.

He let out a huff of determination and stood up from his chair. The others stopped their complaining and looked at him with confusion. Though, he brushed them off as he walked over to him. He tapped the sulking boy’s shoulder and Joshua jolted. He turned to him with his eyes widened and stood up. He then suddenly bowed his head.

“Y-Yes?”

“Uh, what’re you doing? There’s no need for you to bow my head to someone like me!” He chuckled. Joshua’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment and he looked back up.

“Ah, sorry,” He nervously chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

“R-Right,” The boy cleared his throat, feeling his own cheeks burn. “Anyway! It’s nice to meet you! I’m Tai. I hold the big sword as you saw earlier and I apologize for the coldness from all of us!”

Joshua looked down at his hand outstretched to him and he felt all of the unpleasant feelings he had earlier disappear. He happily shook his hand and greeted him with a smile.

“It’s quite all right. All is well now.”

A big, goofy smile broke out on Tai’s face and he laughed. Joshua was taken by surprise from seeing his true personality. Tai then took a step back and slung an arm around the shoulders of a boy who looked identical to him.

“This is my twin brother, Kai-”

Kai swung down his scythe and let it fall directly in front of Joshua, only centimeters away from touching him. He wore a big frown, glaring at the slightly shaking boy. Joshua looked up in horror and met his gaze to find a menacing glare directed at him.

“Just so we’re clear, I don’t like you.”

With that, Kai picked up his scythe and rested it on his shoulder. His arm hooked around it to keep it in place. He shot him one last glare and brushed his brother’s arm away. He looked over Joshua one more time before clicking his tongue and sauntering off to one of the rooms.

“Did you really have to do that? Now we have to get a new table!” Sen shouted after him, slamming her hands down onto the table. She scowled when she was brushed off by the wave of his hand. She scoffed and sat back down on her chair.

“Okay, bad start to the introductions,” Tai joked, trying to lighten the mood. Though, it was no use. Joshua laughed out of politeness and he appreciated that. “As you can see from that unexpected demonstration, he has the scythe as a weapon.”

Joshua let out a nervous laugh, which caused Tai to continue to the next person.

“This is Sen. She holds the chain and sickle-”

“Wait until I get my hands on that kid,” She seethed and stomped after him with her weapon in hand. Joshua watched after her in disbelief.

“Ah, they get a little nervous when meeting new people.”

“So it would seem.”

“Next is Chi who has this gun as her weapon.”

“I’ve gotta go! I can’t miss this fight between Sen and Kai,” She giggled. She blew a kiss as she made her way towards where the two of them went. Joshua weakly waved a goodbye, then turned to the very dejected boy. “Tai?”

“Sorry, but it’s just that I kept getting interrupted today.”

From how pouty he sounded, Joshua couldn’t help, but let a laugh escape. Tai’s eyes went wide and his cheeks flushed.

“Woah.”

“H-Huh? What?” He hummed, wiping away any tears that had fallen. His laughter slowly died down, so he was able to speak once more.

“A-Ah, nothing. Just forget it. Oh! There’s one more that you haven’t met yet. He’s not around right now, but I think he’s-”

Right then, the door swung open and revealed an unknown figure. His whole torso was covered with a black cape, only revealing a sliver of his shirt. His face was hidden by a black mask, his cold eyes being the only thing anyone could really see. His walk was as intimidating as the rest of him. As he passed the two of them to get upstairs, Joshua met his eyes and shivered.

“Who is that?” His voice barely above a whisper.

“That was Xuan. He’s an expert with daggers.”

“He’s really scary,” Joshua mumbled.

“He may come off like that sometimes, but he has his nice side too! Really!”

Joshua had a hard time believing that when he felt Xuan’s glare burning a hole into his head. Tai laughed and gave him a pat on the back as if to reassure him.

“I’ll take your word on it,” He weakly replied. Tai grinned and excused himself to go to the others. 

Meanwhile, Joshua was left by himself at the table. He didn’t dare make a move just in case that may have pissed off Xuan. Though, he got curious as to what you and him were doing. He slowly turned in his chair and was able to see the both of you in the corner of his eye. His breath hitched in his throat when he met Xuan’s gaze. He gasped and quickly turned back around.

“So are you just going to glare at the newbie or inform me of what you found?” You sighed tiredly and raised an eyebrow. Xuan’s eyes averted to you and he pulled out a few pieces of paper from under his cape. You nodded in approval and grabbed hold of them, skimming over the contents. Once done, you tucked them away at your desk. Xuan’s eyebrows furrowed together in anger, just as you did when you turned back to him. “This is even worse than what we expected. We have to move. Now.”

Xuan held out an arm to halt you in your tracks. You frowned and was about to question his actions when his eyes flickered to the boy sitting by himself. Noticing that there were eyes watching him, Joshua turned to face them. His eyes widened at the frown etched on your face.

“Bring him along too,” You ordered and Xuan nodded. He followed after you as you gathered everyone up around the table.

“What’s going on?” Sen asked.

“Sen and Kai were in the midst of a great fight, you know?” Chi whined.

“Clearly something has happened, so that shouldn’t be of concern right now,” Kai clicked his tongue.

“What did I say about being mean to me, huh? I warned you, didn’t I?” Chi shouted and pointed her gun at him, which made him scoff. You raised an arm up to stop the two of them from arguing any further. Seeing how serious you were, they knew they had to shut their mouths.

“About the plan,” You trailed off and stabbed a knife down on the table. “We strike at midnight.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Is someone going to explain to me what’s going on because I am totally lost?” Joshua asked no one in particular. He let out a sigh and watched as the team scrambled around the hideout to prepare. It seemed everyone knew what you meant, except for him. “This cannot be happening.”

“Here, put these on. You’re coming along too.” You stopped in the midst of the chaos to shove a mask and cape into his hands. He stared at it, then looked back at you.

“What is this? I don’t understand-”

“You don’t need to. Just do as you’re told.”

“Yeah, but-” He mumbled. You stopped what you were doing and narrowed your eyes.

“But what?”

“I really get to go?”

You scoffed, a hint of a smirk appearing. “You are apart of the team now, aren’t you?”

Leaving it at that, you left him. He looked between the two items in his hand, still in disbelief. Tightening his grip around them, he let out a groan and did what he was told. After everything was prepared, everyone was called around the table. Joshua had hesitated at first until Tai pulled him into the discussion.

“Everyone knows what their jobs are tonight, correct?”

“Yes!”

“Um, I don’t,” Joshua meekly spoke up, raising his hand. Your eyes flickered over to his and he gulped at the intensity of your gaze.

“You will be on watch duty, so you’re with Tai and Xuan.” You nodded towards them and he looked over as well. Tai laughed while Xuan averted his eyes. His attention was brought back to you when he heard how threatening you were. “You’re going to stay with those two and listen to everything they say. Don’t agree? I don’t care.”

“Understood,” He squeaked out his response and gave a thumbs up. You clicked your tongue and turned to the others to discuss more in depth about the plans.

“Don’t worry! I’ll make sure you won’t die!” Tai grinned, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

“Great, thanks.” Joshua weakly smiled as they walked up to Xuan. He looked anything, but happy. Tai had no problem with that and swung his other arm around his shoulders. He then pulled them into him.

“I’m excited to be working as your partner, so please take care of me!”

Joshua groaned. “What did I get myself into?”

While the others moved in on the enemy in the building, the three of them were to stay on the adjacent rooftop as lookouts.

“So,” Joshua tried to strike up a conversation, then stopped himself when the two of them stared blankly at him. He cleared his throat and looked the other way. “Nevermind.”

From beside him, he heard a joyous laugh. His head snapped to the source of the sound and found Tai trying to quiet himself.

“Sorry, sorry. I should’ve realized sooner, Joshua. You’re probably really confused, huh?”

“Just a little bit.”

“You see, we have a mission to assassinate someone tonight.”

He stared at him in disbelief. “How can you say that with a smile?”

Tai shrugged and innocently smiled. Joshua sighed and shook his head, running a hand through his hair. Sensing that he was a little stressed about everything, Tai striked up a conversation.

“Ah, let me tell you about our members while we wait.”

“Huh?” Joshua stammered, surprised by the sudden change in conversation. He was baffled by how cheery he could be in this type of situation.

“Hm? Would you rather me not do that?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Oh, good!” Tai beamed. Well, let’s see here. Ah, I’ll tell you about my brother and me first. As you’ve seen, he’s a very rather grumpy person. He’s always been like that now that I think about it. I, on the other hand am his complete opposite.”

Seeing him grin without a care in the world made Joshua relax a bit.

“Sen is like a mother hen, always fussing over all of us. That’s why when we saw you enter the hideout, she got really protective. Next is Chi. She’s the youngest, so she’s rather spoiled and childish. Then, there’s Xuan who-” Tai cut himself off when their eyes trailed over to his. It was as if he was warning Tai not to continue or else he would have his head. Except, he didn’t care and was rather used to his glaring, so he continued explaining. “He glares a lot.”

“I think it’s because he doesn’t want you to talk about him.”

“That may be one reason why. Another reason could be that he thinks I’m an idiot.”

Joshua nervously laughed.

He hummed, then shrugged. “Even if you wanted to know more about him, I wouldn’t be able to tell you about his past since he’s never told me about it.”

“You’re teammates and you don’t know anything about him?”

“None of the other members do either, well except for Y/N. Y/N’s the only one he’s entrusted his past to.”

“I see, so he’s the secretive type?”

“That pretty much sums him up!”

“Does he not talk?”

“Huh?” Tai turned his head to see what he meant, then chuckled. “Not really, he’s a man of a few words. We still love him though,” He laughed. Joshua tried to laugh along, but he still felt the piecing glare of Xuan on him.

“Why do I get the feeling he doesn’t like me?” 

Tai glanced over at said boy, then back at Joshua and snickered. “You sure ask a lot of questions, huh?”

“Well, I mean-” Before he could finish his sentence, your signal came. Tai and Xuan reacted immediately while Joshua was left behind. “Oh no. This is bad. Where am I supposed to be? Nobody informed me of anything.”

Xuan looked back as he ran on the rooftops. Tai noticed that his attention was elsewhere and turned to him. 

“What is it?”

The two of them came to a stop and Xuan wouldn’t stop looking back at it. Without explaining a word, he waved his teammate to keep going. Meanwhile, he was dashing to where they left the boy. Joshua slowly met his gaze and nervously laughed. He raised a hand to wave and Xuan’s eyes narrowed in displeasure. He yanked him up by the collar and pulled him towards the location of where Tai was. He let go of him when they met up with him once more.

“Are you ready?”

Xuan nodded while Joshua raised his hand.

“Um, I’m not. I actually have a few questions.”

Tai chuckled and pulled Joshua’s hood over his head. “See ya.”

“You’re leaving me again?” Joshua groaned as he watched the two of them jump down from the rooftop. He hesitated in what to do next. If he followed them, there wasn’t much he could do. After all, he was supposed to play the part of a merchant’s son. Then, there was also the fact of him not having a weapon. “What do I do?”

In the midst of figuring out what to do, his eyes trailed down to where the battle took place. He made sure to hide himself well enough to not attract any attention to him. His jaw dropped as he saw the horror of what the group was capable of.

“Piece of cake,” Chi giggled.

“That was boring,” Kai clicked his tongue, placing his hands behind his head.

“I admit that it would’ve been better if he put up a fight,” Sen sighed.

“I say we just go in next time and break loose!” Tai grinned.

“Are you an idiot?”

“W-What?”

Kai shook his head and inched away when Tai started to whine about his mean younger brother. Chi clung onto Sen while she tried to calm her down from her hyperness. You and Xuan were talking off to the side about the mission when you took notice of the boy on the roof. You turned to face him and sheathed your swords in their place.

“You can come down now.”

At the sound of your voice, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at you. They then followed your gaze and spotted Joshua. He slowly made his way down, still trying to swallow down everything he just witnessed.

You raised an eyebrow at his hesitation and waved him over, but the look in his eyes stopped you. There was a mix of anger and sadness in them.

“How can you joke around like that after taking a life?”

Everyone exchanged looks with each other. Kai stepped up to say something when you raised your hand to stop him. Joshua took a step closer to you, daring to say more. He wasn’t going to hesitate this time.

“How can you just kill that man without knowing him?”

You said nothing and walked towards him. His breath hitched when he saw the menace in your eyes. You stopped when the two of you stood side by side, facing opposite directions.

“He was not an innocent man and that is enough for me to kill him.”

Your answer left him in much disbelief. You scoffed when he didn’t have a reply and signaled for your team to go. They nodded and walked past him without saying a word. He was left to stare down at the dead body.

“Do they not feel any remorse for what they do?”


	4. Chapter 4

The door swung open, unraveling the tension in the air.

“How can you just kill him so easily?”

“Kid, you’re still going on about this? That man’s dead already. There’s no use crying about it, so let it go,” Kai scoffed. You raised your hand to silence him and turned around to face the gutsy boy. Everyone watched the two of you in suspense. You walked up to him, but he showed no signs of backing down. He stood tall and proud to defend his ideals.

“Of course I can’t. That man had a family, friends, workers. You didn’t consider how they would feel with him dead.”

“There are many more who will be happy to see that he is gone.”

Joshua shook his head. “What you did was wrong. You killed that man in cold blood.”

“What of it?” Your eyes narrowed. He stepped forward to make his point. He looked at each one of you with deep anger in his eyes.

“You people just sit in the shadows, then go out to kill people whenever you feel like it.”

You stared at him hard. “Are you regretting asking us for help now that you’ve seen what we do?”

“No. I just didn’t expect for you to be so heartless.”

“Heartless,” You muttered, then laughed. The members exchanged looks with each other, never had heard a terrifying laugh come from you like that. “Oh, man. That mouth of yours is going to get in trouble one day.”

Joshua gulped. You backed him against the wall and trapped him with your hand.

“You’ve got guts, but it’s a thousand years too early before you can try to fight me.”

You left your words at that. You pulled your hand away and turned on your feet. Everyone watched as you walked back into your room. They then turned to Joshua who had slid down onto the floor. His eyes were wide and his hands fell to the ground beside him. One by one, they left him alone to calm down his fast beating heart.

Later that night, Joshua couldn’t sleep a wink. He was restless from seeing and hearing everything about this day. He let out a frustrated groan after the third attempt of getting some shut eye and having no such luck. He crawled out of bed and sat on the windowsill, outlooking the town.

“No matter how I think of it, I still can’t agree with the way any of them thinks,” He sighed and shook his head. A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts as he turned his head to see who it was.

“Still awake, huh?”

“Tai, what are you doing up?”

“Well, I figured I could keep you company on this eventful night!” He clasped his hands together. Receiving no reaction from the boy, he nervously laughed. “Ah, sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” Joshua softly smiled and beckoned him over. He sat on the couch and faced him.

“This place isn’t so bad, right? I mean you somewhat get along with the members.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“Oh! How about seeing everyone in action? That was pretty cool, huh? I mean you got to see us use our weapons for the first time!”

“Yeah, that’s true I guess.”

“And all the moves you saw were awesome, right? Did you see when I did this and went bwoosh, then bwah on that one man?” Tai exclaimed, waving his hands around. Joshua tilted his head to the side, which made him nervously laugh and his arms fall to his side.

“This isn’t working, is it? Oh, man. I even added in sound effects in hopes of making it more exciting!” He huffed.

“I appreciate the effort,” Joshua softly smiled and that put a big grin on Tai’s face.

“I’ll take that! Hm, let’s see. What else can I do to cheer you up instead?” 

While he was lost in thought, a knock on the door interrupted the two of them. Their heads turned to the person and they found Sen leaning against the doorframe.

“Let me have a go, Tai. Go get some rest.” She waved her hand and he nodded. He waved goodbye to the both of them and excused himself. Sen pushed herself up and walked over to where Tai was previously sitting. She crossed her legs and arms, leaning back against the chair. “You seem to have a lot on your mind.”

Joshua scoffed and nodded. Sen chuckled and looked out the window.

“I see.”

“Is that it?”

She shrugged.

“It could be if you wanted it to be.”

“I can’t tell if you like me or not.”

“I guess you’ll never know.”

Joshua stared at her with curiosity. “Are you trying to make me feel better somehow?”

She shrugged again, leaving her answers vague. He sighed and turned back to the window. The two of them sat together, admiring the night sky for a while until Sen broke the silence.

“We aren’t bad people, you know?”

He scoffed. “I find that hard to believe.”

“I guess it’s fair for you to think that way after witnessing such a thing.”

“Every person out there would have the same reaction I had. Only someone as insane as Y/N would think it was no big deal to kill the person the way Y/N did.”

Something in Sen snapped and she stood to her feet. She glared coldly at Joshua and he felt the pressure it held.

“Y/N doesn’t just kill for fun. Y/N does it to help the people of this town that the royal family has failed to do.”

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped, but she left no room for him to speak.

“We had a thousand reasons to kill that corrupt man. He was selfish. He killed the innocent. He bullied the weak. He stole from others to benefit him in any way possible. He was no innocent man. He deserved what he had coming. Do you understand now?” She snarled. The hatred boiling in her eyes made him shudder as he slowly nodded his head. She let out a sigh and took her seat again.

Once he managed to catch his breath, Joshua spoke up. “Why didn’t Y/N just say that?”

She bitterly laughed. “That’s not Y/N works.”

“It would’ve been easier for everyone and especially for my heart had Y/N been open about it.”

“Y/N’s a stubborn one.”

“I’ve noticed.”

He noticed the faintest smile on her face when she spoke of her team’s leader.

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“I don’t like when Y/N is being misunderstood. As one of Y/N’s closest friends, of course I’m going to stand up for Y/N.”

At that, Joshua couldn’t help, but let out a small laugh. She knitted her eyebrows in irritation and confusion.

“What’s so funny?”

He raised his hands to stop her and waved it off.

“It’s just that Tai was right when he said you were a mother hen.”

“H-Huh?” She exclaimed and that made him even more amused.

“It’s not a bad thing. I think it’s very heartwarming.”

She scoffed. “Trying to woo me with your words isn’t going to work on me.”

“Woo?” He muttered, then looked up to find her frowning at him. He held his hands up in surrender and she let out a sigh. She stood up and he raised an eyebrow. She met his gaze and scoffed.

“Looks like I’m done here.”

“Hm?”

“You seemed to be feeling well enough to try to tease me, which I must say that you have guts for messing with me.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m still very much wary of you.”

“Good.” A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips, but she fought to hide it well. “Anyway, you have a better grasp of the situation, so I don’t see why I would need to stay longer than necessary.”

“That’s fair, but hey.”

“Mm?”

“I’ll try to understand Y/N and you all in the future.”

She scoffed, an amused smile on her face. “That’s if you can.”

“That’s why I’m going to try.”

“Just remember that I still have my eyes on you, so be careful with what you do and say around the team.”

“That was to be expected,” He sighed with defeat.

“Good, we’re on the same page.”

“Sadly,” Joshua muttered and watched as she walked towards the door. He sent her away with a wave and she raised her hand to bid him farewell. He let out a breath that he wasn’t aware he was holding. “I was definitely not expecting any of that.”

“Oh, one more thing.” Sen poked her head back into the room and he jolted in his spot.

“What is it?”

She said her chilling warning before making her leave. Even with the scary grin on her face, he knew she was completely serious.

“Talk bad about Y/N again and you’re dead.”


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Joshua was determined to find you to apologize. He didn’t care if he had to look all day, he had to find you. He also didn’t know where this sudden courage came from, but he better do it fast before he backed out. He checked every room before looking up at the last place you could be. He sucked in a breath, then exhaled to give him a piece of mind.

“Here we go.”

He slowly made his way up the stairs and peeked into where you stood on the balcony. Your attention was strictly on the papers in your hands as nothing could tear you away from them. He bit his lip, debating whether or not he should disturb you.

“Mm, maybe I shouldn’t,” He mumbled to himself as he went up and down the stairs. He went through the pros and cons, seeing which outweighed the other. Deciding to get his punishment from you later, he fully made his way onto the balcony. Out of the corner of your eye, your attention snapped to him. Neither one of you moved as you watched what he was going to do.

He cleared his throat and twiddled with his fingers. “Hey, can we talk or are you busy?”

You stopped in the midst of sorting papers to stare at him. After some awkward eye contact, you tore your eyes away and turned back to what you had to get done. He pursed his lips and debated on whether or not he dared to take a step closer to you. As he went to take a step, your voice made him tense up.

“Get out, I’m too busy to deal with your antics right now nor do I have the patience.”

At that, he got his answer. 

“All right, got it.”

He quickly spun on his heel and headed for the stairs. Though, he stopped himself before he got to the first step. He stood there, then shook his head and turned back towards you.

“You know what? No.”

“Excuse me?” You seethed and slammed your hands down on the table. He flinched at the harsh tone and action. He cleared his throat and stood his ground.

“I-I have something to say, so I can’t leave yet.”

You scoffed, eyes never leaving the papers. “And what if I say you can’t? What will you do then?”

Joshua took a deep breath. “I know I should leave you alone like you wish, but it’s something I really need to talk to you about. If you just give me a chance to explain things, I’ll leave right away when I’m done. It’s a promise, I mean it.”

You didn’t say anything, so he was left wondering what it was he was supposed to do. 

“Don’t go make promises or else that will be the end of you someday. Anyway, just say what you need to say. I’m busy.”

You waved for him to go on and leaned back against the table. He instantly felt relieved that you were willing to listen. He twiddled with his fingers before having enough courage to look at you though. You raised your head to meet his gaze, which pressured him even more.

“Y/N, I’m sorry for last night. I was out of line and I shouldn’t have pushed it as a newcomer. You have your reasons for the things that you do, so I should try to understand you better instead of fighting you about it. With that being said, I’m just going to apologize one more time. I’m sorry, Y/N.”

You tapped your finger against the table while you thought of what to say. He was fidgety as he awaited your response. Though, he had nothing to worry about when you let out a tired sigh and waved your hand.

“That’s all you wanted to talk about? Forget about that matter. It’s over and done with, so don’t worry so much about it anymore. Right now, we have far more things to worry about now.”

“Huh? What’s going on?” Joshua rushed to you, worry deep in his eyes that it almost caught you off guard. You opened your mouth to speak when Tai and Kai came running in a frantic manner. Their eyes were filled with a mix of panic and tiredness. Your face fell into a frown.

“We have a problem.” Tai bit his lip and paused to look at his brother. “A really big problem actually.”

“There’s going to be a lot of trouble for us, Y/N.” Kai frowned.

“What is it?” You seethed and your eyes narrowed. They nodded towards the stairs and the two of you followed after the twins. You were handed a piece of paper with everything explaining the situation. As your eyes landed on the last of the sentences, you were livid.

“Tch, damn king.” You clicked your tongue and crumpled up the sheet of paper, tossing it aside. You bit down on your lip and tapped your finger against your crossed arm as you thought of what to do.

“What did it say?” Sen questioned while Tai went to throw it where it belonged.

You sighed and ran a hand through your hair. “The king has put out a warning about us, the Rogues, as he likes to call us. We are to be captured dead or alive as we’re now enemies of the king and his people. “

“What? No way!” Everyone gasped, looking at each other.

“This is what we get for killing one of his many higher ups?” Kai scoffed, putting his hands behind his head. Joshua saw how you didn’t meet his eyes and instantly picked up the fact that there was another reason about why he would do such a thing.

“The only solution now is to leave town for a while,” Tai declared.

“But that would mean I lose all the good spots in town!” Chi whined and stomped her feet.

“Does that really matter right now? We’re in danger!” Sen scolded and Chi stuck her tongue out as a response. The group started getting riled up, arguing with each other about what you should do. All of that was silenced instantly when you slammed your hands down on the table.

“Tai’s right. I think we may to leave town for a bit.”

“We’re really going to leave like that?” Joshua asked in astonishment.

“Only for a little while. We’ll come back when things cool down. Besides, this town isn’t the only one ruled under the king. Others need our help too.”

Joshua tried to bite back his words, but then you motioned for him to speak his mind.

“Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting this sudden transition. I mean this is your home, isn’t it? Don’t you think you’re leaving everything behind so easily?”

“It’s not like we’re abandoning our home.” Sen shrugged.

“Yeah, I love this little home of ours to leave it behind forever!” Chi beamed.

“It holds too many memories.” Tai grinned.

“I didn’t know this place held a place in your heart already, kid,” Kai slightly smirked and crossed his arms. Joshua’s cheeks flared up from the embarrassment of realizing such a thing came out from his mouth. He scratched the back of his neck and let out a nervous laugh.

“W-Well, you know. I figured that you might miss it, so I worried, I guess?” He said it more as a question rather than a statement. He wasn’t too sure himself. “Please forget I said anything and just continue with your conversation.”

Everyone except him and Xuan let out a chuckle.

“So what does everyone say?”

You took one last look around to make sure everyone was thinking the same thing and they were. You smirked.

“Then it’s settled.”

“Mhm.”

“We set out at dawn, go pack up your things.”


End file.
